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Compressed tea doesn’t have a reputation around here as being very great, but it is still a field I feel a desire to investigate. I use TeaHong’s pu’er squares regularly at work, and I’m looking around a bit to decide what kind of cha bing I’d like to have. Other kinds of compressed pu’ers I could get are also on my radar – the mushroom ones look pretty cool. While my primary interest is seeing first hand how well they taste, I think having physical examples at a tea club meeting would be a useful thing.
To wit, I have found these: http://www.puerhshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=26&products_id=724Compressed usually seems to mean Pu’er right now, though I have found a Colonial period reenactment website that sells squares of “black tea”, and now these things. I haven’t found any mug-friendly “single serves” of pu’er on an English website other than Leo’s, and I was surprised to have found pre-measured “black” tea at all.I’m not expecting anything fantastic, certainly nothing like the Avia Lokita I’m drinking right now or the ever welcome Shenhulin dabai “Congou Rustic”. It would be an interesting try, though, and certainly something more easily packed along on camping trips or road trips than a scale and a tube or bag of TeaHong’s products. Worst case, unless they’re awful I can always give these away as gifts.M.EDIT: They also seem to have compressed green tea as well. These are all called “Candy tea” by the website. -
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I understand what you mean by a single dose thing to carry around. I think this is a market which many are trying to devise products for.
It is also great to sample around now that the internet has made finding various products so much easier. I do the same thing all the time too.The process of compressing any tea inevitably alter the nature, including that of the taste of the tea, green and black tea included. While making a compact block of tealeaves is doable by any person, knowing how to make it to render the best taste potential of the leaves is entirely a different thing. A very large (I don’t have any audit of it) proportion of what I have encountered have been questionable. Do let us know about your find. -
I’ll admit I was surprised at just how many tea shops there are online, even in the U.S., that aren’t major chains like Teavana. There are a lot of great, dedicated people (like the Tea Urchin and Verdant Tea I posted before) selling wares, and this is where I prefer to source things.
Pu’er seems to have a lot going for it. I’ve found several sites that revolve around pu’er (Yunan Direct, Pu’erh Shop and Tea Urchin are the top 3 in that regard). They might sell other tea styles, but the post-ferments are 80%+ of their product line. I guess this is because pu’er is very deep (shapes, vintages, etc) and visually rich (shapes, designs, factories), so it’s easier to have a large product line. That reminds me, I need to find a good Bing for my collection; I’d like to see what different compressed pu’ers are like.
As to the alteration of the nature of the tea, I am unsure what to expect. Compared to the loose leaf pu’ers I have, the only compressed forms can be at times more astringent, rougher at the back of the throat. I don’t expect small balls of red teas to be distinctly fantastic, though. It’s probably low grade to begin with.
Now, clearly what I need to do is invest in compression equipment and make my own compressed forms for a side-by-side comparison…
M.
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I finally got around to trying a compressed hongcha:
Not great. They are more compact than anything I’ve ever come across before. Even when steeped in 90+ degree water for ten minutes, they don’t fully dissolve, so you get this weak infusion. Much too much work.That site also briefly had hand-rolled hongcha balls at about 1.5g each, but they are no longer economical for the company to carry.M. -
Funny that you are so obsessed with compressed teas. To me they seem antiques. Not for drinking 😛 I think it is really strange that so many stores selling this kind of stuff in USA. Only some older people in Hong Kong buy this kind of things. None of my friends do. So I wonder why young people in USA buy them.
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I think tea cakes have good advantages. For example, sheng cha cakes are good drinking tea because the leaves have been steamed and baked in compressing process and therefore not cold in TCM. If you drink mao cha sheng puer it makes you not too comfortable because TCM cold, especially the stomach will feel not well.
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